Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis

The US Supreme Court is set to hear a case regarding fair use as it pertains to a photo of the universally known music artist, Prince. The nation’s highest court will hopefully clarify when and how artists can make use of the work of others.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have exploded in popularity over the past year. Use cases for NFTs have been growing as more industries are realizing the benefits they present. A report by blockchain specialist Chainalysis found that almost $41 billion was spent on NFTs in 2021—a number that is likely to continue growing.

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in the United Kingdom just closed a consultation on policy options for changes to patent and copyright legislation to better protect technology created by artificial intelligence (AI).

As part of our Spotlight series, we connect with Andrew J. Gray IV, a partner in Morgan Lewis’s IP-Technology group, to discuss the recent focus on embedded copyright cases based on a court’s unwillingness to apply the server test. Andrew gives us his thoughts on recent developments and what companies may want to think about when embedding social media content (or other content) into its own.

When a company desires to develop technology, it has two options: develop the technology in-house by its employees, or contract with a third-party developer to develop the technology. Any time a company contracts with a third party to develop technology for the company, one of the key issues in the agreement should be allocation of intellectual property ownership.